The Hammock
by Dreamweaving
Summary: Katnep and tickling in a hammock.


On nice spring nights, Nepeta usually likes to curl up in the hammock with her laptop and rp with her friends, enjoying the warm breeze. She balances in the middle, the hammock lightly swaying, but never threatening to tip under her weight.

She feels so comfortable and contented. And sometimes she nearly ends up falling asleep, lulled by the gentle rocking.

Tonight she isn't alone though. And the hammock isn't swaying gently at all. In fact, it seems close to flipping completely over.

"Hehehe. Karkat, you have to hold still."

"Fuck! I am holding still! It's this fucking topsy-turvy piece of hoofbeast shit that's moving!"

She lets out a surprised laugh as the hammock nearly flips itself, causing Karkat to shout. She's not afraid. She's in control.

"You just need to relax."

"How the fuck do you even use this thing? It's a hanging death trap!"

Nepeta just rolls to lean over him, her hands grasping the hammock's ropes on either side of his head. There was a time when she wouldn't have had the courage to make such a bold move. But time changes so much.

And maybe angry love confessions do too.

He frowns up at her, but doesn't complain.

"You're too tense. If you just relax you'll be purrfectly fine. Trust me."

"I do trust you."

The words were snapped out in Karkat's typical angry near-shout, but it's a bit softer. Because he _does_ trust her.

"Are you relaxing?"

"Yes, dammit, I'm relaxing."

Nepeta shifts her hands to his shoulders.

"You're still too tense."

"Why the fuck am I letting you put me through this?"

She smiles and rubs his shoulders, trying to ease the tension as the hammock continues it's wild and erratic movements. She leans down and kisses him on the tip of his nose and feels his shoulders relax a little under her grasp.

"I still don't like it."

Ignoring his complaint she places a light kiss on his lips.

"There has to be a better way to set one of these shitty things up. It's unstable as fuck."

"That's part of the fun."

The hammock's rocking is slowing down, becoming more manageable, and she continues to land soft kisses all over his face. Soon Karkat has relaxed enough that it's almost stable. He even loosens his grip on the ropes at his sides and raises a hand to touch the side of her face.

When she leans down to kiss him on the lips again he kisses her back. All seems well. As they lay in the hammock it's almost like they're off in their own world for a while.

They'd had a few makeout sessions before, though never in the hammock. This was the first time she'd managed to coax him into it.

She felt more in-control here. Karkat was new to the motions of it and she'd been here a million times before. It gave her the upper hand. And she used it to her advantage, slipping one hand under the hem of his shirt and ghosting it up along his stomach.

She felt his stomach tighten under her touch and heard him inhale sharply. For a moment she paused, watching the way he held his breath, staring up at her.

She tilted her head, regarding him curiously, before continuing to run her hand upwards- And he squirmed under her touch, biting his lower lip. The hammock jerked slightly beneath them.

"K-knock it off!" He hissed.

It dawned on her slowly, the reason for his reactions. It brought a smile to her lips.

"Karkat, are you ticklish?"

He shook his head, adamantly.

"Fuck no! Don't be stupid! It's just-"

She released her other hand's hold on the hammock to slip it under his shirt with the other. Her fingers lightly trailed to his sides, finger tips barely brushing over his skin.

"F-fuck!"

Karkat moved as if to grab her hands, but the hammock rocked from his movements and he quickly latched back onto the ropes.

Laughing, Nepeta kissed him lightly on the lips, her fingertips now dancing gently across his stomach.

It was kind of cute the way he squirmed.

The hammock jolted this way and that. And while Nepeta wasn't worried at all, it's rocking defiantly alarmed Karkat. She started to lightly run her nails downwards, pausing at the hem of his pants, considering.

"Nepeta, dammit, you're going to make us-"

He never got to finish his sentence, as the hammock did a complete flip. Rolling over and back up the other way.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Nepeta gave a happy shriek as the hammock turned, wrapping them in it's netting. She struggled to pull her hands out of Karkat's shirt and grab for the ropes, but they were pressed so tightly together she couldn't.

And then the hammock was flipping back the other way, opening and dumping them both to the ground. Nepeta landed first, on her back, with Karkat on top of her.

"Oww..."

"Gogdamn! What the _hell_ was that? You-you... you're not hurt, are you?"

Karkat suddenly became aware that he'd landed on her. He lifted himself up, grabbing for her hands which had been trapped between them. She shook her head, letting him grab her wrists.

"No. I'm fine. You're not all that heavy."

He released his hold on her hands, sitting back with a slight huff.

"Well whatever. It would have been your own damn fault. What the actual fuck was that?"

For a moment she lay on her back, watching him with amusement as he raged.

"Well, Karkitty, fur your information, that would be what fun looks like."


End file.
